Ladder leveling attachment



' Allg 23,P 1938. H. M. ovERPEcK 2,1218

` LADDER LEVELING ATTACHMENT Filed Dec. 11, 1957 KNVENTOR Patented Apg. 23,1938' .Y 25,127,884

UNlT STATES PATENT OFFICE LADDER LEVELING lAflTCHluENT Harvey Myers Gverpcc Philadelphia, Pa. Application December 11, 1937, Serial No. 179,366 i cams. (ci. 22a-s3) v This invention relates to attachments for lad'- such an attachment comprises the two channel= ders and pertains particularly toan attachment shaped portions 4 and 5 which are arranged for by means of whichone side rail of a ladder may use with their edges in opposed relation so as be lengthened or shortened as necessary to take n to provide a receiving channel therebetween for 5 care of inequalities in the ground or a sloping the ladder rail 2. 5 condition of an underlying supporting surface. The portion 4 of each rail attachment is mate- Tlic present invention has for its primary -rially shorter than the portion 5, and each of object to provide an attachment hy means of the portions has the edge of the side thereof which the side rails' of a'ladder may he lengthprovided' with aseries of teeth, the teeth of the cned or shortened so as to facilitate the mountportion 4 being indicated by the numeral ii while 10 ing of the ladder in proper or vertical position those forming a part of the portion l5 are indiupon sloping or uneven ground, in which novel cated by the numeral l, and these teeth are in means is provided for facilitating the quick intermeshing relation when the attachment is changing of the parts ol' the attachment whereby secured in the selected adjusted position of the '15 the desired adjustment may he made. rail. Y l M5 Another object of the invention is to provide an The portion 4 which COflStitllteS 'the fixed parli Aattaclnnent for the, rails of a4 stepladderlwhich of the attachment, has the back wall thereof comprises two separable units, one of which is provided with two bolt openings B and these flxed to the" rail while the other is movable openings are alined with thel Openings# 9 0f 2o thereon relative to the iirst unit and wherein larger diameter which are formed transversely 2o novel means is provided to effect the automatic thru'the rail 2 adjacent the bottom or lower separation of the movable from the fixed uint @nd therOf, and bOltS 'm DESS thru the Openwhen holding or securing elements are released. ings and 9 to the outer Side of the rail to The invention will be best understood from a receive the securing wing nutsll. i

consideration of the following detailed descrip- The outer or shiftable lJOl'lJiOl-'l 0f the attcch- 25 tion taken in connection with the accompanying ment which is indicated by the numeral 5 has drawing forming part of this specification, with its back wall provided with the longitudinally theunderstandmg, however, that the invention extending slot l2 thru which the threaded outer is not connned to any strict conformity with the ends ofv the bolts l0 extend, and there are placed' showing of the drawing but may be Changed against the inner and outer faces of the slotted 30 In the drawing:

or modified so long as such changes or modiwall of the portion 5 the washers i3 and Ml which cations mark nomaterlal departure from the encircle the bolt, the washer I3 being disposed salient features of the invention as expressed in in the adjacent end of a passage 9 as illustrated the appended claims. in Fig. 5, While the outer washer is pressed against v the outer side of the slotted wall by the adjacent 35 Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a ladderwith wing nut. the attachment embodying the present invention Within each` passage 9 is an expansion spring applied thereto. l5 which surrounds the bolt passing thru the Fig. 2 is a view in edge elevation of one rail passage. One end of this spring bears against of the ladder showing the attachment in elevathe washer I3 while the other end bears against .m

tion. a similar washer I6 which ls positioned against s Fig. 3 isa view ofthe exterior surface ol a fixed the inner side of the apertured wall of the porlelement of the attachment. tion Il. The outer Wall of this portion of the Fig. 4 is a view in elevation of the outside attachment may have positioned thereagainst in of the movable element of theattachment. surrounding relation with the bolt it, a Washer 4,-.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line Il as illustrated so that the head of the bolt will 5--5 of Fig. 2. bear against this washer instead of against the Referring now more particularly to the drawadjacent portion of the attachment.

ing. the numeral l generally designates a ladder From the foregoing description taken in con of the character for which the present attachnection with the illustration of the invention, it 5o ment is devised, such a ladder comprising two Will be readily apparent that when the wing nuts side rails 2 Vand the connecting rounds 3. Each Il of each rail attachmentare drawn up on the of the side rails has secured to the lower end threaded end of the bolts l0 the two portions t thereof one -of the attachments embodying the and 5 will be drawn together so as to bring the present invention. As shown in detail in Fig. 2, teeth 6 and 1 into meshing relation and also to 55 closely encase the rail. This drawing together of the two portions 'will compress the lsprings i5 and they will be held under such compression as long as the wing nuts are tight. When the wing nuts are loosened, the springs will expand and automatically separate the two parts of the attachment so that 'the outer or shiftable part 5 can be readily moved longitudinally ,of the supporting rail 2 to a new adjusted position. Such longitudinal movement is, of course, made possible thru the provision of the elongated slot l2 so that it will thus be apparent that desired adjust ments of the parts of the attachments may be readily made without removing any of the elements of the attachments thus obviating the possibility of losing any of the parts.

What is claimed is:

i.. A leveling attachment for a ladder rail, comprising a pair of channeled members adapted to be disposed in channel opposed relation with said rail therebetween, interdigitating coupling means between the members, one of said members being fixed relatively to the rail, the other member being of greater length than the fixed member and longitudinally movable to project beyond the adjacent end of the supporting rail, means for securing said members against relative movement, and means effecting the automatic shifting of the longer member relative to the shorter member when saidsecuring means is released, in aA manner to disconnect said interdigitating means.

2. A leveling attachment for a ladder rail comprising a pair of elongated bodies disposed against I. *l opposite faces of the rail and secured relatively thereto and extending longitudinally thereof adjacent one end, an elongated channeled body adapted to receive the rail adjacent said end. with the longitudinal edges thereof each in opposed relation with one of said bodies interconnecting engaging means between said edges and the said adjacent bodies, securing means for said `channeled body by which the channeled body is drawn into engagement with the irst bodies, means facilitating movement of thechanneled body longitudinally'when out of engagement 'with 'the first bodies, and resilient means normally urging the separation of the channeled body from the other bodies against the action of the scouring means.

3. A leveling attachment for a ladder rail, com prising a pair of channeled bodies arranged in channel opposed relation with the rail passing therebetween, the bodies being mounted on the rail adjacent one end and one body being longer than the other to project beyond the adjacent rail end, the long edges of the bodies being normally in contacting relation, separable interconnecting means between said edges, a bolt passing thru the two bodies and the interposed rail, the said longer body having a longitudinal slot for the bolt facilitating lengthwise movement of the latter body thereon, securing means carried by the bolt for retaining the 'longer body against movement away from the other body, and spring means constantly urging separation of the longer body from the Aother body.

4. A leveling attachment for a ladder rail, comprising a pair of channeled bodies arranged in channel opposed relation with the rail passing therebetween, the bodies being mounted on the rail adjacent one end and one body being longer than the other to project beyond the adjacent' rail end, the long edges of the bodies being. normally in contacting relation, intermeshing teeth formed along said edges, a bolt passing transversely thru the two bodies and the interposed rail, the said longer body having a longitudinal slot for said bolt, a thumb nut threaded on the bolt and adapted to exert pressure against the slotted body to maintain said teeth meshed, and an expansible spring encircling the bolt and constantly exerting pressure against the slotted body tending to effect separation of the bodies.

HARVEY MYERS OVERPECK. 

